Youth roundup: Two Wildcat squads hoop it up at Super Bowl Bash

The Davis Wildcats’ eighth-grade Black team went 2-1 at the recent Super Bowl Bash basketball tournament in Rocklin, finishing in third place.

In their opener, the Wildcats cruised past the YBA Extreme, 38-18, as local big men Miles Lampley (10 rebounds), Trevor Hewitt (six boards) and Griffin Duisenberg (12 points and six rebounds) dominated inside. Davis also used a tenacious press, creating many turnovers off of the strong play of Ben Bergevin (who added 13 points, 4 assists), Kyle Cuvelier (four points, four assists), Ryan Strong (four points, two assists) and Isaiah Davis-Della. Yiorgos Callaway added three points in the win.

The Wildcats then dropped their second game, 40-27, to the Attack despite a strong effort from Jesus Jimenez, who finished with six points, six rebounds and a blocked shot.

In the finale, Davis bounced back in a big way, defeating the Reno Ballers, 49-23. The locals used quick ball movement, which helped Bergevin (three steals) score 13 points, Greg Silver sink 10 and Cuvelier (four assists) can nine. Strong added two blocks and Hewitt led the way with eight boards.

Wildcats 12U hoops

The Davis Wildcats’ 12U Black basketball squad made it to the championship game of the recent Super Bowl Bash before coming up just short to take second place.

The Wildcats got started with a come-from-behind 48-35 win over the Del Oro Eagles. In that contest, Kayden Hoal led Davis with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Henry Siegler and Lance Prussel got hot on the perimeter to score nine and seven points, respectively. Erick Lengtat added four points and two assists for the locals, who pulled away after intermission.

In its second game, Davis overcame a size discrepancy to beat Incline Village, 54-44, as Collin Yee paced the offense with 12 points and six assists. The Wildcats also got 10 points apiece from Prussel and Siegler and nine each from Rayan Tilmatine and Hoal, who combined for eight rebounds. In addition, Lengtat and Will Ziegler made key jump shots to seal the victory.

Despite jumping out to a big first-quarter lead, the locals could not hold on, losing 43-39. Even in the loss, Wildcats got strong contributions from Yee, who poured in 18 points, including 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, Hoal (12 points, three blocks) and Ziegler five boards).

Lady Devil rugby

The Davis Lady Devil Rugby Club had just 13 players for Saturday’s matchup against Rancho Cordova — which has 37 girls on its roster and was able to field the normal 15 at all times — falling to the Lancers, 59-12.

Despite being down two players, and with some others having to fill it at new positions, Davis was able to score two tries and a conversion kick. Perla Portillo ran in for the first try, then later added two points with a conversion kick after Lupita Perez scored the second Devil try.

Clarisa Sandoval and Claire Clark — who had two great kicks — each posted several key tackles for the locals, while Estephanie Franco made a strong run down the field and Jordan Vermette picked up an interception. Another bright spot for Davis was line-outs, as with Vermette as the jumper and Perez and Angelica Lopez lifting and supporting her, the Devil won nearly every one.

Diamonds gymnastics

The Davis Diamonds’ boys team brought 18 gymnasts ranging from ages 7 to 17 to compete at last weekend’s Mas Watanabe Invitational in Elk Grove.

At Level 4, Davis’ William Taylor — who was competing for the first time ever — took seventh on the parallel bars and eighth in the all-around. Other good Diamonds finishes came from Lukas Smith (seventh on high bar), Markus Engwall (seventh on vault) and Alexander Miyamoto placed third on vault and fifth in all-around.

Local Joshua Faith took fifth for his Level 5 floor routine, one spot ahead of teammate Tristan Langenegger, who also took fourth on high bar. Henri Schulz (11th on vault), Colin Walsh (16th on high bar) and Leo Cooper (19th on rings and parallel bars) had strong contributions for Davis.

Dante Yasui, who was second on vault and fifth on pommel horse, paced the Diamonds at Level 6, with Kyle Moeller earning ninth on rings and vault, where he was one spot ahead of teammate Racha Elsbach. Peter Conant finished 13th on that event and 14th on high bar.

At Level 8, local competitor Daniel Bair placed second on high bar and sixth all-around, Arvin Domir was second on vault and tied for fourth on the rings and Sean Smith tied for fourth on floor and took ninth place on parallel bars.

Rounding out the meet for Davis were Samuel Resendez, who was second on rings and third on floor at Level 9, and Patrick Long, the fifth-place finisher on all five Level 10 events including the all-around.